RoadVitals

2008 Harley-Davidson Sportster Owner Complaints

Reports submitted to NHTSA by owners and drivers, shown in full

Data refreshed

Complaints on fileComplaints are reports submitted to NHTSA by owners and drivers. NHTSA does not verify most reports before publishing them, and a complaint does not establish that a defect exists. Volume is influenced by how many of a vehicle were sold, how long it has been on the road, and how much attention an issue has received.
2
Latest Sep 9, 2011
Crash or fire reportedComplaints whose submitter recorded that a crash or a fire occurred. These are the reporter's own answers on the NHTSA form, not verified findings.
0
Filed in the last 12 monthsReports filed with NHTSA in the trailing 365 days. Recent volume reflects attention and vehicle age as much as anything else.
0
Reports on file since Jun 3, 2011

What this page shows

Our database holds 2 NHTSA owner-reported complaints for the 2008 Harley-Davidson Sportster. Each one is a report filed by an owner or driver and published by NHTSA without most of them being verified. A complaint is not a confirmed defect, not a recall and not a manufacturer bulletin. Narratives are shown exactly as filed.

Complaints are reports submitted by owners and drivers to NHTSA. They are not verified and do not establish that a defect exists.

Complaints, most recent first

Showing 1–2 of 2

Steering
Filed Sep 9, 2011

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2008 HARLEY DAVIDSON SPORTSTER MOTORCYCLE. THE CONTACT WAS DRIVING 40 MPH WHEN A NOISE EMITTED FROM THE FRONT FENDER. THE CONTACT NOTICED THE STEERING COLUMN HAD STRUCK THE FRAME OF THE VEHICLE. THE VEHICLE WAS HARD TO STEER WHEN THE FAILURE OCCURRED. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT TAKEN TO THE DEALER, BUT THE MANUFACTURER WAS CONTACTED TO REPORT THE FAILURE. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 9,000 AND THE CURRENT MILEAGE WAS 10,000.

NHTSA ID
10424484
Incident
Aug 6, 2011
Mileage
9,000 mi
Other / unspecified
Filed Jun 3, 2011

2008 HARLEY-DAVIDSON XL1200C MOTORCYCLE REAR WHEEL BEARING FAILED WHILE RIDING RESULTING IN EXTENSIVE REAR WHEEL DAMAGE AND A NEAR-ACCIDENT. RIDER WAS ABLE TO MAINTAIN CONTROL OF THE MOTORCYCLE. THE MOTORCYCLE HAD 8,500 MILES ON IT AND WAS 1-YEAR OUT OF DEALER WARRANTY. EXTENDED WARANTY ON THE MOTORCYCLE WOULD ONLY COVER LOCALIZED DAMAGE NOT THE EXTENSIVE DOWN-STREAM DAMAGE. HARLEY-DAVIDSON MOTOR COMPANY 'CUSTOMER CARE' WAS UN-RESPONSIVE TO THIS COMPLAINT, ADVISING THAT THE BEARINGS ARE A WEARABLE PART AND THERE WAS NO RECORD OF A RECALL ON THE BEARING OR SIMILAR FAILURE COMPLAINTS. THE DEALER ADVISED THAT A NEW STYLE BEARING WAS THE CALLED-FOR REPLACEMENT PART. *TR

NHTSA ID
10404341
Incident
Apr 3, 2011
Mileage
8,500 mi

Higher-selling and older vehicles accumulate more reports. Counts are not failure rates and are not directly comparable between vehicles that sold in very different numbers.

Data sources

Data on this page last refreshed .